Engagements: Recently Ringed

How We MetI met Sam through a friend in 2006 after mentioning to her how hard I thought it was to find an attractive guy with good morals. She said I should meet her boss and convinced me to visit her at work. As I walked in, I spotted Sam and froze with shyness. I tried to escape, but he walked over and asked my name. For a week, we talked on the phone until he asked me out. Our first date was at Lucas Park Grille, and Sam quickly picked up on my habit of wrapping my drink in a napkin to prevent cold hands. Soon, he was doing it for me, and that won me over. It wasn’t long before we became inseparable, and once I met his family, I knew I could spend the rest of my life with him.

The ProposalThree and a half years later, we went to Sugar Creek Winery. On the way there, I tried to put my hand on Sam’s lap, and he pushed it away. It was strange, but I didn’t worry about it. At the winery, we chose a spot with a beautiful view and sat down. He asked me to sit, too, but I didn’t want to get grass on my clothes. He got down on one knee, and I saw the ring. In between our crying, he asked me to marry him, and I said, “Yes!” Soon after, I realized the reason he pushed my hand away in the car was because the ring was in his pocket!

How We MetJustin and I crossed paths at Mizzou as undergrads when we had classes in the same building. We smiled at each other and said hello, but it never went beyond that. I graduated from Mizzou in 2007 and returned to St. Louis, and he went back to Kansas City after graduating in 2009. One day, I was surprised to see he had messaged me on Facebook and asked how I had been. Soon, we went from just occasionally messaging each other to frequently talking on the phone. Finally, he asked me out. We met in Columbia, MO to have dinner and see a movie. It was the first weekend of many that we spent together. Justin and I traveled back and forth between St. Louis and Kansas City nearly every weekend after that. It was definitely hard, but worth it.

The ProposalJustin and I went to Las Vegas for my birthday. On the first night, we celebrated with dinner at Tao, and then Justin suggested we go to the Eiffel Tower. The view was beautiful. We asked an attendant to take a photo of us, and I saw Justin say something to her. I thought he was telling her what to capture in the background. After a couple of photos, he said, “I have one more surprise for you. I saved the best one.” With that, he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him! I was shocked, so my first response was, “Are you serious?” and then I said, “Yes!” It was the perfect birthday with the perfect guy.

The Big DayMay 26, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church and The Palladium.

Jamie Martin, 34 & John Bryant, 41

How We MetIt was April 2010, and I had been working at the same company as John for about seven months when we started becoming friends. As our conversations at work grew, he asked if I’d like to hang out sometime. Because I was already having friends over for drinks on my patio that evening, I invited him over, too. We had an absolute blast, and all of my friends loved him! The more we got to know each other, the more I thought he was a sweetheart. Our friendship grew into something so much deeper as time went by. When Christmas came around that year, friends and family had already been asking when we were going to get engaged. They definitely saw the spark between us.

The ProposalIt was one of the worst winter days of the year. John drove through a blizzard to pick up the engagement ring—he was too excited to wait to propose! After a romantic dinner at our house, he ran out to his car, came back inside and asked me to join him in the other room. He closed the door, and I saw he had bought a dozen red roses and our favorite wine. Getting down on one knee, he held out a box and opened it up. There was my beautiful engagement ring! He asked, “Jamie, will you be my wife?” and I said, “Yes!”

The Big DayDecember 17, 2011 in Cancun, Mexico. Reception on February 25, 2012 at The Quail Ridge Lodge in Wentzville, MO.